Bloodhound supersonic car clocks highest speed yet of 501mph
Video report by ITV News Africa Editor Penny Marshall
British supersonic car Bloodhound has reached the 500mph milestone, hitting a top speed of 501mph (806kmh) in the South African desert.
It was the car’s seventh run as it tests ahead of its land speed record attempt in 2020, where it seeks to beat the 763.035mph record.
The driver, current world land speed record holder Andy Green, is driving the Bloodhound faster on each run to gather data in order to prepare the car for its record attempt next year.
On Tuesday, Mr Green had clocked the top speed of 491mph but encountered some minor body work damage.
"At 200mph it’s like driving from snow on to ice, the car moves around and I’m throwing stabs of 90 degrees lock into it," he told BBC's Top Gear.
On Wednesday, he managed to add another 10mph to the speedometer,.
Mark Chapman, Engineering Director, explained Tuesday's issue: "The issue was with an 'into wind step', which is an area of the bodywork that high speed air and desert grit blasted into as such a rate on this run, that it pealed back a corner, up to the first rivet.
"The Fabrication Team are trimming the 30mm long piece of titanium off before they bond and rivet a patch to cover the area."